Today is National POW-MIA day

2008-09-19T22:49:52Z2008-09-19T23:30:02Z

Today is National POW MIA recognition day.

A day when we remember those lost in wars who either gave their life or disappeared in conflicts on foreign lands. KLTV 7's Bob Hallmark has more on how veterans are still seeking answers for those who never made it back home.

"We should think about these people every day until they are all accounted for and all brought home."

US Army veteran Joe Crenshaw remembers men who went missing from his own unit during the Korean War.

"And thats something that bugged me all those years just not knowing. And of course that's the purpose of these programs. Those families never had closure," said Crenshaw. "It comes to the front sometimes in nightmares even sometimes you feel a little bit of guilt the you made it and they didn't."

Vietnam vets remember those who endured torture, starvation, disease and even death.

"It's good that we have a day especially for this, but we should be thinking about these people every day. It's bad enough to fight in a war for a year, but if you're still over there the enemy was holding you for 40 years I just can't picture that," said Robert Morgan, a US Navy combat medic who was in Vietnam in 1967-68.

For those of us that put on the uniform and fought in foreign lands today is a reminder that we were lucky we made it back. It's also a reminder that many of our friends did not.

They want everyone to remember men who made great sacrifices for their country and all Americans.

"All the veterans that I know have a real strong feeling about it. We all would like our prisoners back or their bodies," said Billy Shivers of the US Air Force who did two tours in Vietnam 1968-71.

Their lives ended on battlefields or in prison camps, and the hope is that one day, all families of the missing will have answers.

"When one American is not worth the effort to be found we as Americans have lost."

Saturday, you can attend a ceremony commemorating POW-MIA rememberance at VFW Post 4002 on Ambassador Row in Longview.